cracked tooth

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to hope my cracked tooth is repairing itself?

So went to the dentist for my annual check up. (ive got good teeth generally, no fillings etc). I tell her ai have been having a bit of an issue with one and sure enough I have cracked a molar top to bottom

So dentist reckons I am looking at a root canal and crown or if that is not successful an excavation... I’ve a bit if a dental phobia and am not looking forward to that one bit. Then she said there was a small chance it would just fix itself and that I should wait and see for a couple of weeks?

So I’ve nit had any pain as such over the weekend, is it too much to hope that it’s magically mending. Anyone have any experience of this actually happening?

There are no growth plates on teeth. It’s nit going to heal itself. Teeth aren’t like that.

More than half of one of mine fell out a few months back leaving a huge hole and a cracked piece of tooth

I was dreading the pain but actually, touch wood, it's been fine so far

If it's cracked from top to bottom it can't be filled and drilling into the root will cause the root to crack too. The tooth will have to come out.

I'd question whether your dentist is actually a dentist if they think teeth heal themselves

Cracked tooth can heal itself! Or rather not heal itself but stop being painful.

Teeth have a small ability to heal themselves, to protect the pulp. With cracked tooth the pain comes from the flexing of the tooth and this irritates the nerve. The tooth can lay down a little bit of extra tooth over the nerve and this can protect it. People can have cracked tooth all their lives and never have problems.

So it is possible that it doesnt need fixing? its not been painful all week? Or will I, by putting it off make things worse?

dish have you actually had this?

No but I'm a dentist.

If there's no decay there then a cracked tooth doesn't always need fixing. The crack is already there so even if the tooth breaks at some point that is only the amount of tooth that would need to be taken away anyway to fully fix it.

It also doesn't necessarily need a root canal, it really depends on the size of the crack. I would always try filling before root canal and would only root canal it if t was painful.

When my fractured tooth finally split down the middle I couldn’t beg th dentist fast enough to take it out. The pain was unreal. Don’t wait for that.

I had an implant afterwards.